victoria

Origin:
Latin

Meaning:
Winner, Conqueror

This queenly name has been well-used for centuries but really took off in the ’80s and ’90s, peaking at number 16 and falling since then. We’d think hard before using this name, and not just cause it’s, well, kinda ’90s. Victoria is pretty formal and a mouthful, but obvious nicknames Vicky and Tory/Tori were too popular recently to be grandma-cool but not recently enough to not sound dated and middle-aged. Though Victoria is most associated with the nineteenth-century British queen, it actually started out as the name of a fourth-century North African saint and martyr. Until the queen, it wasn’t popular in English-speaking countries. Victoria was also the Roman goddess of (bet you can guess...) victory, who corresponds with the Greek goddess Nike.